Giving Opportunities

Make a difference.

By investing in graduate education, you ensure Berkeley’s legacy and help build a more resilient future. Your financial contribution to the Graduate Division enables us to recruit and recognize exceptionally talented students who are essential to Berkeley’s research and teaching. It helps provide the tools, mentoring, resources and community support so that students have what it takes to be their best as they balance their personal lives with their academic aspirations. 

Your gift gives us the means to deliver an inclusive, world-class experience to graduate students, so they can make a difference at Berkeley and beyond.

There are many ways you can support Berkeley’s graduate community. As compared to gifts to individual schools or colleges, gifts to the Graduate Fellowship & Support Fund provide widespread support for graduate fellowships across all disciplines, including interdisciplinary programs. Our Graduate Student Experience Fund provides wraparound professional development opportunities, trainings, and resources and services to support the overall well-being of our graduate student community.  The Graduate Diversity Support Fund specifically funds efforts to grow and support a more diverse and inclusive graduate community.

Other graduate giving opportunities target more defined areas from professional development to teaching skills. Our matching funds programs are a great way to increase your impact. And we’d welcome discussing special naming opportunities that can align with a specific area of need.

Help empower our more than 11,000 graduate students to make a difference.

Graduate students reflect the very best of Berkeley and are invaluable contributors to the teaching, research and public service mission of the university. Berkeley is committed to serving the public good, and recruiting a diverse and talented pool of graduate students is part of that mission. Faculty at Berkeley, so many of whom are world-renowned in their fields, often cite the high caliber of our graduate students as the top factor contributing to their work satisfaction. One of the top priorities of Light the Way: The Campaign for Berkeley will be to fund 300 graduate fellowships by 2023.

Private philanthropy is a critical component of several robust efforts to boost Berkeley’s finances. Whereas the State of California used to generously fund Berkeley, today it provides only about 14 percent of the university’s budget. This means that philanthropy, more than ever, is essential to ensuring critical support for the core elements that define Berkeley’s excellence.

Your gift in support of the Graduate Student Experience Fund is an investment in human and financial resources that facilitate professional development resources and virtual and in-person trainings to prepare students to succeed during their graduate studies and beyond. This fund also supports graduate student life, including social and financial supports for parents and caregivers, as well as opportunities for social and cultural activities that enhance the overall well-being of our graduate student community.

A groundbreaking survey of Berkeley Ph.D. alums spanning 40 years revealed that many students, particularly those in science and engineering, have for many years chosen careers outside of academia. Your support for our Graduate Professional Development work helps students recognize potential career paths, set and achieve professional development goals, and build skills vital to careers in education, industry, government, and more.

In response to social injustices and racial unrest, the Graduate Division has developed a set of concrete efforts to change the status quo and move us toward becoming the anti-racist, truly inclusive institution we need to be. As the top public university, the changes in campus climate we create will serve as a model for institutions around the country.

Your support can help fund our:

• Diversity and Community Fellows Program
• Annual Diversity Admissions Fair
• Graduate Diversity Pilot Program
• The Summer Research Opportunity Program
• Path to the Professoriate Program